Herwin

​European Supply Chain & Packaging Development Manager, Netherlands

Smurfit Kappa has given me challenging opportunities to show my capabilities and get the most out of myself

What I am currently working on:

A ‘European Supply Chain and Packaging Development Manager’ can also be called a technical account manager. It means being responsible for all (technical) projects running within 1 or 2 major Pan European customer of Smurfit Kappa. The type of projects may vary from innovation and development, to cost-optimization programs and sustainability.

What has been the most rewarding experience at Smurfit Kappa?

My most rewarding experience until now was to win, together with the team and the SK people in the countries, the Unilever Sustainability Award 2011. It shows that with close relationship and working together as a partner with customers really pays off.

What does one working week look like?

A lot of airplane time! Joking aside, it means meeting with key stakeholders in Smurfit Kappa and Unilever. Working with our nr 1 customer means that there is a high degree of complexity that needs to be managed, either on a project basis or in more generic terms. Running multi-national projects, setting up innovation days, technical first point of contact for our customer(s). Since we supply Unilever in pretty much all countries in Europe, it does require a lot of travelling.

What does the future hold?

I believe that Smurfit Kappa will offer me the chance to grow even further, both professionally and personally. Having followed the international traineeship as well as a follow-up advanced management development program, the next step will not be far away.

What advice would you give someone considering joining Smurfit Kappa?

At first glance the paper and board industry may not be the sexiest, but give it a chance. You will see it is a very versatile and ever moving industry. With Smurfit Kappa being the market leader, it is a great opportunity to work in an international and challenging environment. In other words: go for it!